A Hope and a Prayer

By Julie Lessman

Description:

She’s in love with her best friend. He’s in love with her cousin.
But when the war reveals a gift so rare, will they be saved by a hope and prayer?

As Head Nurse at 2d Hospital in Nancy, France, Lieutenant Hope Dennehy is known for her healing touch, especially when it comes to mending the wounds and spirit of her best friend, Lieutenant Bren O’Neill. When Hope’s cousin breaks Bren’s heart, Hope is always there, helping to heal him with a friendship so anointed and deep, it threatens to break her heart too.

Flying high as a daredevil aeromedical evac pilot in the European Theatre, “Lieutenant Love” O’Neill crashes and burns when the woman he loves falls for another. Depending on the support and prayers of Nurse Hope Dennehy to save him, Bren re-evaluates his free-wheeling lifestyle when he witnesses the heinous atrocities of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Suddenly nothing in life is as important as taking care of those he loves … or is it? Battling demons from his past, Bren learns that only one thing can truly save him from himself.

Book Takeaway:

God is our All-in-All. He is our peace, our joy, our hope, and our strength, and we cannot run to anything else on this earth to provide those things.

Why the author wrote this book:

Thank you so very much for reading Hope’s and Bren’s story, A Hope and a Prayer. I hope you enjoyed it.
I will admit that this novel was one of the hardest I’ve ever written, primarily because of the seriousness of the subject.
Why?
I think because I wanted to implement a difficult lesson that God taught me in the last year, that He is our All-in-All. He is our peace, our joy, our hope, and our strength, and we cannot run to anything else on this earth to provide those things.
Because He is also a jealous God.
Consequently, I discovered that if I run to or esteem anything before or higher than Him—be it family, friends, talents, money, success, movies, TV shows or other entertainment, sports, alcohol, or even innocent pastimes like books or music—I risk elevating that thing to a higher place in my life than Him. Risk running to it to lift me up, to encourage me, or to make me happy instead of to God. And I risk allowing that thing to have more control and influence over me and my actions than God and His precepts.
A difficult lesson to learn? Well, for me, kind of. But especially for the hero, Lieutenant Brendan O’Neill. But the good news? That lesson made it all the clearer for me—and to Bren—that God is absolutely crazy about us! Loves us SO much that He created us to be His family, made in His image and likeness. That’s why He sent Jesus to redeem us and why He blesses us with wonderful things like family, friends, talents, etc.—all true gifts from Him.
But when we run to or prefer the gift over the Giver, we run the risk of not only limiting God’s blessings in our lives or in the lives of those we love, but limiting a relationship with the very God who made us for Himself—to be His family—and in whom “we live and move and have our being.”
That is a lesson I learned recently and one lesson that the hero in A Hope and a Prayer—Lieutenant Brendan (Bren) O’Neill—has to learn too. A critical lesson that has opened my eyes to not only how very much God loves us, but how much He wants to bless us with good things. Because He IS the key to good things—not the good things themselves! He is the only key to more joy, peace, and hope than I ever dreamed possible, as Bren also eventually finds out. Although let me just say— “Lieutenant Love” is a hard nut to crack! But then, Lieutenant Hope Dennehy is just the one to do it.
If you would like to read more about this passionate and close-knit Irish family, the O’Connors, I highly recommend starting from the beginning of this family saga with the first three novels in The Daughters of Boston series, followed by the next three novels in the Winds of Change series. Book one of the Winds of Change series is A Hope Undaunted, where Hope first appears as a child. Thanks to my publisher of that book, Revell Publishing, I’ve included a few short excerpts from that book and others on the following pages to give you a peek at sweet Hope Dennehy early on.
Book one in The Daughters of Boston series is A Passion Most Pure (Faith and Collin’s love story), book two is A Passion Redeemed (Charity and Mitch’s love story), and book three is A Passion Denied (Lizzie and Brady’s love story). And then if you like, you can continue on with the Winds of Change series, where book one is A Hope Undaunted (Katie and Luke’s love story where Gabe is introduced), book two is A Heart Revealed (Emma and Sean’s love story), and book 3, A Love Surrendered (Annie and Steven’s love story). Please note that these are two series best read in order due to a number of big twists.
I invite you to get to know all of the O’Connors through this saga of seven novels in total, all listed on the “Books by Julie Lessman” page at the end of this book, including Marcy and Patrick O’Connor’s own prequel love story, A Light in the Window. I am very proud to say that A Light in the Window features my own daughter on the cover and in the ALITW VIDEO that my talented hubby created for me.
And now, I have a favor to ask. If you enjoyed this novel, would you consider posting a brief review on Amazon and Goodreads? It can be as short as one or two lines stating why you liked it. Good reviews are critical to book sales, so that’s the best way to bless your favorite authors.
NOTE: Want to be notified of my new releases/deals? Follow me on BookBub by clicking the “follow” button on my author page.
Thank you again for your support, and whether it be on “a wing and a prayer” or on the wings and prayers of the Holy Spirit, may each and every one of you soar closer and closer to the Father’s heart.
Hugs,
Julie Lessman